Not so long ago...

...I was here. (see above)

I wish I was still there, contemplating Mt. Hood and, specifically, the Coe Glacier. Such a nice place to be. Sigh.

Unfortunately, I am back home. And, being back at home means being back at work. I do enjoy my job, and it makes the days go by faster than they would if I were home doing nothing, but, still, standing for 8 hours is not as easy as you'd think. Especially when you have...uh...well, as a friend from college used to put it, "the fiery tooth of Satan in your uterus." It was especially bad yesterday, and I think I took enough Advil to permanently sedate a small child.

Speaking of children, I just returned from a 3-hour volunteer shift at the local children's hospital. I really enjoy it. I am sad that next week will be my last week as a volunteer. Being around sick children is a very powerful experience, especially when I spend time on the pediatric hematology/oncology unit. I really like volunteering there, because I get to help these kids be, well, kids. I get to build lego towers, play board games, pretend to be a dinosaur, make bracelets, and have tricycle races in the hallways. At least for a little while, they still get to have some semblance of a normal childhood. And, their parents get a break. I am very interested in pursuing medical social work once I have my MSW, and my time at the children's hospital has only strengthened this interest. However, I think I need to sort out my feelings and beliefs about death before I could do any kind of medical social work, as death would certainly be a big part of my job. Right now, I don't think I could handle it. Sometime in the future, perhaps.